Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Humble Daalithoy!!

Every Konkani blog in this blogosphere has a recipe for Daalithoy! We amchi's love daalithoy so much that we do not need rice to go with it. We just slurp it like payasa.. Any function is incomplete without daalithoy. A lot of times at functions in Mangalore you will see that we have rice and tomato saaru for the first course and second course rice and daalithoy. Sometimes, people tend to have only daalithoy without rice for second course. Amazed? Most of the amchi houses have daalithoy on everyday basis. People also joke that daalithoy is our KulDevata (Family deity). This also happens to be the first of the recipes that girl's usually cook with and also the first of the food that is introduced to kids when they start with rice.

We love DDT... not Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane.. but Daat DaliThoy (thick daalithoy).

When we were in school, our parents made sure that every year we got to go to different places during our summer holidays. Dad who was then a teacher also got vacations and mom took long off's. We have even taken 45 days long trip within India. We used to pack light and each of us had a suitcase of our own and every suitcase had one set of cloths of every other member. In case any of them happens to lose their bag then they can atleast wear something fresh until new cloths were purchased. We have almost completed the "Theerthyathra" at very young age, i.e when I was in sixth grade. It was during one such trip, that we were out from Mangalore for almost 45 days.We were visiting Mumbai (then Bombay) for my cousin's thread ceremony and from there we had started our trip to Varanasi and covered Badrinath, Kedarnath,Nepal, Kulu,Manali,Shimla,Kolkata(then Calcutta),Delhi,Haridwar, Hrishikesh etc. The first few days we enjoyed eating out and but then it got so boring that we missed home food. We missed the normal simple meal and terribly missed having Daalithoy. On the last day of our trip we had called up my mhaav(Aunt) and when my mom was speaking to her I took the phone and asked her to make rice,Daalithoy and pathrado. I still rememeber the way we hogged food that day!

Now coming back to this recipe there is no approximate measurements for this recipe. It is simple and straight forward. Pressure cook 1/2 cup of Toor Dal with a drop of oil until done. Approximately 3-4 whistles. Mash the dal thoroughly and add salt to taste. Pour water to bring it to desired consistency. Add in 2 slit green chilli's and keep the pot on gas. When it starts to boil add a pinch of asafoetida/hing. Give a rolling boil and switch off. Prepare tempering with heating oil, add in 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds. When they splutter add 4-5 curry leaves and a torn red chilli. Fry for few secs and pour the seasoning over the prepared dal and serve hot with Rice.

There are a lot of varations to make Daalithoy. This is how we make in Mangalore homes and temples. As and when I make different variety will post them here. I also add some chopped corriander leaves for garnishing at times.

A Konkani blog is incomplete without Dalithoy and I love the way you've written about it.I think dalithoy is an omnipresent dish and most wanted even when there are other dishes to feast upon.Lovely recipe,I follow a similar one.Great to read about your travels too..

I tried your Zebra Cake. It was nice and fluffy in the oven but the moment i removed it from the oven it collapsed and became flat. But it still tasted gr8 and it was a lovely experience to try it. Planning to make it again. Thanks Ujwal.

Hey Uj, I am not sure how I missed all your previous recipes. Thank God I came to savor your DDT :-)). We are the same way too, we love daat daalithoy. But horrors of horrors I do not have daalithoy on my blog. I need to put it soon.

I am off to Bangalore this weekend. I will "see" you after about 4 weeks. Take care girl!Hope you are all having a good New Year.

Asha,We have not seen places with k'taka actually. When we came to Shanghai we explored a lot of places nearby. Once we go back to India wish to explore more places there :)

Namrata,you are right.. we never get bored of it..Ditto with my hubby and my bro!!!Oh.. glad you liked the cake..Collapsed?? Do try it again..I am not a very good baker so probably you should ask someone who is much more experienced